Nicotine And Nicotinic Acid Are Very Different Things

February 05, 1990|By Allan Bruckheim, M.D.

Q-A longtime friend says he has good authority for a statement that the nicotine in smoke is good for lowering cholesterol. He claims he read this in a medical magazine, but can`t find the clipping to prove it. Do you have any information that can help us figure this out?

A-Many words seem alike, but are quite different. This is a real case of mistaken identity. It`s probable that your friend was reading about nicotinic acid. Although the name is similar, it has nothing to do either with smoke or the nicotine found in tobacco. Nicotinic acid also is called niacin, as well as vitamin B-3.

While niacin is commonly used to treat a vitamin deficiency disease called pellagra, it`s also known to be effective in lowering the cholesterol levels in the blood. Niacin is found naturally in meats, eggs, milk and dairy products, and is not lost from the food during the cooking process.

The recommended dietary allowance (RDA) for an adult male is about 18 mg per day, while women should have 13 mg daily.

To treat pellagra, doses in the range of 300 to 1,000 milligrams are used. However, some people take much higher doses when using niacin to treat high cholesterol, as much as three grams a day and at that level side effects are common-flushing, a redness of the skin, and headaches.

Q-At age 29, I have a pea-sized lump above my navel which hurts when pressed. A friend suggested that it is a ``strangulated navel`` that surgery could correct. Is that true?

A-Whenever a loop of bowel, a bit of tissue, or organ protrudes through an abnormal opening, the abdominal wall in this case, it is called a

``hernia.`` If the blood supply to the protruding tissue becomes cut off because of swelling or constriction, it is called ``strangulated.`` This is a serious condition; the tissue may become gangrenous.

An ordinary hernia through the navel is known as an ``umbilical`` hernia. It is most frequently seen in newborns, rarely becomes strangulated, and closes by itself after several years, rarely requiring surgery. If this hernia exists in an adult, it could become strangulated and could be closed using simple surgical techniques.

Another condition that can develop in hernias is a situation where the loop of bowel gets ``stuck`` in the opening and can not be pushed back into the abdomen. This is classified as an ``incarcerated`` hernia, and may or may not be strangulated.